Florida is considering new water quality standards that would force industries and utilities to reduce the amount of pollution they dump into the state's waterways. Industry lobbyists argue against them, claiming they would cost too much. But Department of Environmental Protection officials have questioned industry-written cost estimates.
Before the BP oil spill disaster, Louisiana wetlands were facing an even bigger disaster of long-term subsidence and erosion. Now the increased awareness stemming from the oil spill may help save them.
"Much of the crude still in the Gulf and coastal areas more than three months after BP's blowout has permeated deep into marshes and wetlands, complicating cleanup."
"A U.N. panel has declared the Florida's Everglades to be an endangered World Heritage site due to the wetlands' continued degradation, officials said on Friday."
"The dispersants used to break up the BP PLC oil spill came under new scrutiny Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, where a panel warned that the U.S. government lacks critical information about whether the chemicals threaten sea life in the Gulf of Mexico."
"Marsh grasses are the tough guys of the plant world. Left alone, they dominate coastal marshes from Texas to Newfoundland. Burn their stems and leaves, and they come back bushier than ever. They help slow down hurricanes and filter pollution. As impenetrable to humans as a green wall, they shelter birds, fish and endangered mammals, and act as nurseries for commercial species like shrimp and crabs. But let oil get into their roots and underground reproductive systems, and they can wither and die."
"Where would Jesus drill? Religious leaders who consider environmental protection a godly mission are making the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a rallying cry, hoping it inspires people of faith to support cleaner energy while changing their personal lives to consume less and contemplate more."
"The gooey oil washing into the maze of marshes along the Gulf Coast could prove impossible to remove, leaving a toxic stew lethal to fish and wildlife, government officials and independent scientists said."
A CBS News crew captured on video orders from BP contractors and US Coast Guard officials to stop filming environmental damage from the BP-owned oil fouling Louisiana beaches and coastal wetlands. The Coast Guard denied that it or BP has rules prohibiting coverage.
A blanket of thick oil smothered Louisiana's life-giving wetlands as the BP oil spill finally moved ashore.
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